Program Goals

Mission

The California Voter Foundation is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization
promoting and applying the responsible use of technology to improve the democratic
process.

Strategy

The California Voter Foundation (CVF) involves itself in issues where democracy
and technology intersect, working to ensure that democracy is enhanced rather
than harmed through technological changes. CVF innovates and promotes
good technology and democracy practices that benefit California voters while
also serving as an example for other states.

CVF is a pioneer of digital democracy programs in California that have spread
across the nation, demonstrating the effectiveness of CVF’s strategy
in areas such as online voter education, Internet disclosure of money in
politics and voting technology reform. CVF’s program goals reflect
the organization’s continuing commitment to advancing the public’s
interest on cutting-edge democracy and technology issues.

Program Goals

Advance public verification of election results

Computers are playing important roles in the voting process. But voting
equipment in California and the United States is provided by private companies,
and the software that is used to record and count votes is proprietary and
not open to public inspection. Over the past forty years, in effect,
the voting process has been outsourced to the private sector. Yet government
at all levels is unable to provide the public with assurance that the use
of computers in the voting process is safe.

The California Voter Foundation is committed to advancing oversight, accountability
and transparency in the voting process by encouraging election officials
to provide physical, paper records of every ballot cast and utilizing those
records to publicly verify the accuracy of computerized vote counts so that
everyone can have confidence that all votes cast in all elections -- from
the local school board race to the Presidential contest -- are cast and counted
accurately.

The California Voter Foundation uses the Internet to improve California
voters’ ability to make informed electoral choices. For more
than a decade, CVF’s nonpartisan California Online Voter Guide has
provided voters with free and convenient access to a wealth of reliable information
sources for each election. CVF’s web site also features political
district maps, an archive of campaign promises, voting equipment maps and
directories, timely information on voting and voter registration, and information
on California state and local government, all of which is designed to help
the voting public make informed, confident choices.

The California Voter Foundation is committed to continue providing Californians
with access to nonpartisan election information, and offering its web site
as a state and national model for online voter education. CVF is also
committed to working with state and local government agencies and institutions
to increase public access to reliable election and government information
via government web sites.

Promote transparency of money in politics

CVF advances accountability in government and ensures voters are empowered
to make informed, confident decisions by making it possible to “follow
the money”. CVF is a pioneer of electronic filing and Internet
disclosure of campaign finance records, shining “digital sunlight” on
money in politics throughout the state and nation. CVF’s work
advancing online disclosure opens up public access to this data and provides
voters with crucial information about who is funding candidates and measures.

The California Voter Foundation is committed to continue promoting transparency
of money in politics and ensuring voters have convenient and timely access
to information about those who financially support candidates and measures
on the ballot. CVF’s ongoing Grading State Disclosure program
promotes greater accountability of money in politics in all 50 states by
assessing, grading and ranking each state’s campaign finance and online
disclosure programs.

Protect voter privacy

New technologies bring new opportunities for democracy, but also new challenges.
Putting voter registration data on computers, especially when combined with
other changes in elections technology and campaign practices, makes sensitive
voter data easily accessible to a wide array of users without voters’ knowledge
or consent. A 2004 survey conducted by CVF found that one reason why
nearly one out of four nonvoters in California is not registered to vote
is because they want to keep their personal information private.

The California Voter Foundation is committed to advancing better public
policies and practices in the area of voter data privacy to ensure that access
to and use of this data by campaigns and others does not deter voter participation. CVF
also recognizes that voters have the right to cast a secret ballot
and is committed to protecting this right from any encroachments brought
on by new technologies.